Advancing Entrepreneurship Education in Namibia: A Practical Approach

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1 Advancing Entrepreneurship Education in Namibia: A Practical Approach S Mbaziira & CA Oyedokun, Polytechnic of Namibia, Namibia This paper is a qualitative analytical study of competences in Entrepreneurial Education. It is based on an initiative which analyzed various approaches to entrepreneurial education in Namibia. In recent past promoting entrepreneurial education at Iocsl. regional and national levels has become a high priority in public policy. The Namibia educational systems have expanded dramatically while the graduate job market is declining tremendously. Entrepreneurial education which can lead to job creation is a sinequo non. The different approaches to entrepreneurial education in Namibia are analyzed The differences in conceptust. conteauel. design and delivery impact both positively and negatively on entrepreneurial education in Namibia. A number of actual and perceived barriers need to be overcome to facilitate a better understanding of entrepreneurial education. The conclusion and recommendations could offer valuable insight into the important aspects of entrepreneurial education in Namibia. Various stakeholders could also derive some benefits including policy makers/ educators/ government agencies and students. A further study on entrepreneurship education and curricula practices is highly recommended Introduction The prevailing perception in societies is that entrepreneurship is a fundamental skill that is acquired through lifelong learning to enhance human capital development in the form of competence and manpower which is Namibia's most vital asset. To educate the new generation in entrepreneurship is a strategy for strengthening the individual's ability to exploit opportunities in life, both in business and industry thus preparing the ground for future economic growth and value creation in Namibia. A focus on entrepreneurship education in Namibia, more so through formal education, would not only develop a creative and innovative culture, this culture will also enhance the ability and willingness to take initiatives and risk. Formal education could also promote an entrepreneur's cognitive abilities to better evaluate opportunities. Promotion of entrepreneurship entails full collaboration by the relevant stakeholders, more especially the education system (both formal and informal) and the local environment. Children and the youth must be encouraged to believe in their own creative abilities. They need to know that creativity, determination and collaborative ability are highly valued, and that they can create values and jobs for themselves and others. It is important to create a positive attitude to entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurs at an early age, given the fact that one of the reasons that school leavers and graduates of institutions of higher learning do not want to become entrepreneurs, is that they prefer to hold a secure job as a wage/salary earning employee (Iluka, in NEID et. ai., 2005). This is largely based on the negative perception of entrepreneurship. Furthermore, there is a fear of risk taking, which is one of core aspects of entrepreneurship. A change required is not only assistance to SMEs but also new concepts in education and training. Entrepreneurship and Education Entrepreneurship is learned and developed. Its core activities are innovation and creativity. Therefore, it is not limited to special individuals with certain personality traits rather, it is a 295

2 / combined effect of personality, environment, experience, acquired attitude and learning on the competitive behaviors required by the entrepreneur to drive the market process and create value (Stokes & Wilson, 2006). Education both the formal and informal sectors have potentials to contribute to creating a more entrepreneurial culture starting with young children at school. This implies that the education system at all levels should focus on fostering an entrepreneurial mindset among learners. The objectives of entrepreneurship education should therefore aim at: Contributing to the creation of an entrepreneurial culture Providing the necessary knowledge needed to identifying business opportunities as well as to establish and effectively operate commercial enterprises, for instance, personal financial management skills. Creating awareness of the socio-economic significance of entrepreneurial enterprises in Namibia. Creating awareness of the national and personal benefits derived from successful entrepreneurs and improving their own. Increasing the number of profitable and competitive entrepreneurships. Various surveys, GEM (2002 & 2004); the European commission studies (2004) and Honig (1998) in Coleman (2004) positively indicate a clear and strong correlation between education and entrepreneurial success. People with secondary and a tertiary education are more likely to progress their businesses beyond the start up phase, thereby enabled to create more jobs in the process. The entrepreneur's level of education therefore seems to impact on his/her success in growing the business and creating jobs. A survey study by Harris (2003) showed that entrepreneurship sector in Namibia does not attract people with tertiary education since they can enter directly into waged employment but those with secondary education; some have grade one to nine qualifications only. More entrepreneurial training is thus of necessity in schools. SME and Entrepreneurship Contrasted Small and Medium Enterprise and Entrepreneurship are two separate concepts. SME is a concept referring to the size of businesses and the behaviour of these SMEs are influenced by their limitations of being small and medium sized. Numerous business problems are continuously faced by these types of ventures. These include: High production cost and low quality products. Low technology. Lack of or no inter and intra industry linkages to support the companies development Poor management and non aggressive marketing. Inadequate financial assistance from the government and Unorganized SME development programs. The SMEs usually depend on financial intermediaries, particularly the commercial banks in order to obtain credit for their operations. The terms and conditions of loans are too tight. There is no flexibility for SME. On the other hand, the entrepreneurship concept as indicated by Mueller (2004) and Cronje, Du Tolt, Moraise and Motlatla (2006) is associated with the psychology and behaviourial dimensions of the owners and founders of the business. It is a dynamic force that stirs the economic equilibrium by creating an entrepreneurial process. Numerous studies on successful entrepreneurs show that the success of most business ventures, small, medium or large are mainly due to the entrepreneurship aspect. This paper is aimed at highlighting the concepts and types of competences entrepreneurs need to exhibit. The Namibia Situation SMEs make up an important part of the Namibian economy: they contribute an estimated 12% to the GDP and employ about 1/5 of the total workforce. 296

3 In the recent past many activities have been undertaken in order to stimulate the growth of the number of SMEs,to create different kinds of support - both financial and managerial - and to train people as entrepreneurs. The Policy and Program on Small Business Development in Namibia (ILO, 1997) induced a growth rate of 10% by It appeared that the net result of jobs created and jobs lost was most positive in the economical clusters of body care, health care and creches, restaurants as well as hospitality, tourism and crafts (soft sector), much less in electronics, metal, mechanical, manufacturing and consulting. However, the net result was negative in the clusters of construction, maintenance and carpentry as well as textile and leather manufacturing, services and transport. The report on SME Development and Impact Assessment (2004) revealed that the clusters with positive job growth are the smallest businesses and the clusters with the negative results are the largest businesses. It is apparent that many new entrepreneurs prefer to enter into the so called soft sector businesses.these businessesare relatively easy to enter, risk avoiding, and not much innovative. An important set of reasons seem to lie in the personal characteristics of new business owners. Lack of psychological success factors and the lack of desire to take initiatives in making decisions show lack of true entrepreneurial behaviors. In the present situation we can depict three levels of entrepreneurial development. First, there are people who have or are developing certain technical skills which they want to exploit as self sustaining entrepreneurs, but do not have entrepreneurial skills and when they might develop these; some of them might develop an entrepreneurial attitude and behave accordingly. Most of them still have to be trained in crafts and more so in entrepreneurial skills such as marketing, record keeping, employing personnel, among others. All sorts of organizations (governmental and private) play different roles in this development, examples are the CED,and J.C.C.The big challenge for these upcoming entrepreneurs is the change of mind set from having (some) skills to becoming a competent entrepreneur. This will require a lot of input presently provided mainly by the mentor schemes such as those provided by Bank Windhoek other Consulting firms. The mentors would need to be trained in order to help the entrepreneurs to develop from dependent entrepreneurs-to be to self sustaining business people who might eventually be entrepreneurs. Secondly, some educational institutions, (e.g., Polytechnic) realized that the national aim for in increasing number of SME'scan only be realized when people at an earlier stage are interested and trained as skilled or competent school leavers or university graduates, who might enter into entrepreneurship, (NIED, 2006 ) however, the change of mind set still has to take place. The third stage is the youngsters of primary school age. These are informally exposed and perhaps challenged to make little steps into an entrepreneurial setting, more so when there are and more SME'sin their surroundings. Challenges SME Development on the Long Term One of the challenges for Namibia is the goal of getting more and more people involved in small and medium sized businesses. In business words, the change of mind set implies a full acceptance and incorporation (both at individual and business level) of the business concepts. It involves a paradigm shift of culture or attitude of taking up a job or small business activities for subsistence reasons towards taking ownership, exhibiting entrepreneurship behavior and feeling challenged by goals that lay beyond the individual interest of earning some money for a living. For an entrepreneur this change of mind set means not just the mere acquisition of knowledge, skills and experience, but the ability to apply entrepreneurial characteristics which he/she might have acquired to a certain extent as well as the ability to develop the proper entrepreneurial competence. 297

4 SEMsthat fit in Namibia economy would be of interest to new entrepreneurs if they have made the mind shift and have given proof that they are competent before they choose to go into business. That means they get acquainted with business principles and be stimulated to take positive steps in the direction of their abilities at a young age. SMEs Development on the Short and Intermediate Terms A qualitative research was carried out on focus groups in Northern Namibia in 2006 to seek their opinions about the realism and development of the SME sector in Namibia. The fourteen participants in each of the four different focus groups were randomly selected from the population frame. They comprised of SMEsowners. Most of them are in the soft sector. Majority of them (85 %) were males while the rest (15%) were females. Their ages range between years. A structured interview was administered to the participants by the researchers in the different focus groups. Questions range from their opinions on change in mind set, the extent of training they had, capital, how long they have been in business, their perceived business growth, how favorable is the environment for them to operate to their full capacity and what motivates them into business. The opinion of the majority of the participants was that the change in mind set is not easy with small entrepreneurs or the people that finished school and who want to be entrepreneurs. Although they might get trained to a large extent, the change of mind set does not take place, except the ones that already posses an entrepreneurial attitude and will act accordingly. The mentor program - together with the support of many other organizations in the SMEfield - would go along way to set up SMEsand keep their business going. More emphasis would need to be placed on starting entrepreneurs in the rural areas, where there exists a high potential of businessesto start and young people to enter. The interviewees were of the opinion that although they might have a lot of knowledge and skills, a large percentage still misses the proper attitude to implement it. Those who have this proper attitude would need to be selected and helped to get into business. The better businessmen are educated (supposed they posses the characteristics and competences) the better they perform. Spotting the intelligent students who are interested to stimulate them to take up entrepreneurship is worthwhile. They should be entitled to enter easily the mentor program and make use of all the other support measures. The interviewees pointed out that circumstances and conditions are not favourable to them to develop their capabilities, especially in rural areas, where there is little experience with entrepreneurship and little chance to be exposed to it. The emphasis of SME policy, measures and efforts would need to be placed on the youngsters, especially in rural areas. In Namibia, getting more SME's and more entrepreneurs need a few basic things which are lacking. There is lack of business orientation and awareness. Entrepreneurship is not well promoted. Business owners start a business with lack of motivation (this is evident from the opinion of the respondents). Many of them (this applies also to the students in the Business discipline) do not know how to start up a business.they are also short of viable ideas However, solving these omissions does not solve the problem of the need of change in attitude. The Way Forward In order to obtain real impact and enhance an increase in the number of SMEsthe following need to be considered: a) Entrepreneurship should be promoted on a much larger scale and much more extensively. b) Young people should be exposed to business settings; the ones with the right attitude should be scou J and stimulated to develop their entrepreneurial abilities, 298

5 b) Much effort needs to be spent on educating entrepreneurs-to-be on how to start a business and how to cope with all sorts of conditions that they might face. Simulating and training in entrepreneurship nationwide requires efforts to develop and maintain it at all levels of education, bearing in mind that: 1. Young learners at primary school level should be exposed to business concepts in order to develop the right mind set (skills and competences can be developed later). 2. Students who have been taught the theories of business should get some practical experience in order to develop their competences as an entrepreneur. 3. People that are already in business should be helped to perform to the best of their ability and try to develop some competences; they need training, mentoring and support. 4. Mentors should be well trained for their tasks and keep their level in pace with the level of the entrepreneurs they work with. There should be training standards for the mentoring. 5. Government, teaching institutions and teachers should be well informed and convinced of the change of mind set needed and the conditions to be fulfilled. There should be a very strong emphasis on exposure at primary school age, scouting, setting up a multi level training system and more coordination. Implications for Tertiary Institutions The curriculum should be focused on how to get competences developed during the students' studies using methods most suitable and feasible for the purpose. The possible competences to be developed in their simplest way are: (for a more detailed list see Appendix). 1. Taking up ownership. 2. Time management, 3. Team work 4. Communication 5. Marketing. 6.Personnel management 7. Operations management 8. Financial management. 9. Result orientation In order to develop as many of these competences the students would need to get exposed to practical situations where they can learn how to perform and on which they can be assessed. In the Polytechnic of Namibia, entrepreneurial education is compulsory for all the B.Tech degree students. This is a systematic integration of entrepreneurial training in scientific and technical studies. Business schools andtechnicaljscientific faculties would need to collaborate more by creating interdisciplinary teams of students who could practice mini- company activities. There needs to be more focus on developing the skills and competences necessary for exploiting innovations and knowledge transfer activities in combination with the commercialization of new technology. The Institution is in the process of establishing The Namibia Business Innovation Center for practical SME sessions and pre and post mentorship program for prospective entrepreneurs. ' For tertiary institutions to accomplish their roles they need to build business and managerial competences in the students. In the table (1) below are some suitable practical components which can lead to acquisition of competences earlier stated. Analysis of the components is made with regards to their advantages and disadvantages. Conclusions and Recommendations With regard to the introduction of practical components into the entrepreneurial studies at tertiary institutions, two main points can be drawn: 1. The introduction of the practical components should aim at developing competencies, 2. It should be within the level of cognition and general interest of the students, focusing on their future businessesor carrier. 299

6 Table 1: List of Practical Components, and Competences; Their Advantages and Dlsa. dvantages Practical Competences Advantages Disadvantages comoonent real picture, personal, little work, no active learning, Role model taking ownership time no extra staff more stimulating performance management needed, cheap, than learning applies to all students abstract, no active_ time management learning, more team work, real material, analytical than_ communication relatively little work, practical, teacher marketing, personnel extra staff needed, needs a lot of Case studies management, relatively cheap, experience, value operational suitable for large _ depends very much management, number of students on depth and financial management, availability of result orientation elaborate cases depends on assignment, taking only a small range of ownership, time competences can be real situation, cheap, Assignments within management, team practiced, lot of extra suitable for large SME's on subjects work, communication, work for staff: umber of students, taught (as in CED marketing, personnel organizing, students may and the NDC) management, mentoring, students receive remuneration operational & SME, assessing the for it management, financial progress of students management, result fewer SME's orientation Depends on length of, time.team work, real situation, more Increased staff communication, staff are needed, engagement, Fewer marketing, operational cheap, suitable for SME's (family Internship management, large students owned businesses organizational number Students do not like to share) management,financial may receive management, result remuneration orientation Depends on length of time. taking ownership, time real situation, few management, team staff, cheap large Apprenticeships work,communication, Same as for nos. of students, marketing internships students may receive Personnel, operational ' remuneration & financial management, result orientation Simulations real situation, very no actual exposure to Same as for practical real business but apprenticeship few staff needed enouoh to pick up 300

7 cheap, very suitable for large,number of students, Great variety of, situations and business types the idea and attitude Few students, real situation, expensive, more staff inspiring challenging, Mini Enterprises, needed, lot of, need drive, problem (the Company Same as in simulations organization, need solving, no set Program) venues, experienced backs, competition mentors, accountants and success and, sponsors Same as for mini Incubator schemes needed Same as in mini Same as for mini enterprises but enterprises enterprises incubator scheme is These have implications for the staff and management responsible for entrepreneurial education. Two basic decisions need to be taken 1. The development of competences applicable for the course and, the efforts (material and man power resources) needed to realize such competences. 2. The level of effort feasible for a particular educational institution. On clarifying the decisions, table 2 below indicates curriculum options that are most suitable on which they can make their choices taking into consideration the costs, requirements of staff, and assessment modes. Table 2: List 0fC urncu um o 'ptlons. OPTIONS Little Effect on Competences High Effect on Competences Relatively easy to organize Role model performance Simulation Relatively hard to organize Case studies, Assignments Mini Enterprises Internships, Apprenticeships Incubator schemes Based on the above conclusion, the following recommendations are made for concrete actions: To comply with the need of introducing practical components for all students in the Entrepreneurial course as to provide a good insight in to what doing business is all about, institutions should introduce simulations. This can be contracted at a relatively low cost. It can also be used as a selection method for the students that entitle themselves to enroll for the mini enterprise component at a later stage. Academic institutions should be in partnership with private sectors and work out a plan on how to set up mini enterprises for students, who are interested, enthusiastic or selected groups. This can be a Company Program as an elective course component for the Entrepreneurial students or as an additional course component being organized and man; "ed by different bodies. Later this could be incorporated in the Entrepreneurial course for all enrolled students. Higher educational institutions should integrate entrepreneurship across different subjects and courses notably within scientific and technical studies. An appropriate method of assessment should be available to measure students' achievement against the objectives for each course. Namibia has a strong examination driven system, this is not well suitable for assessing competences. There is a need to develop and use other methods of assessment; a shift from norm to criterion referencing is desired. 301

8 Related institutions such as CED, JCCand bureaus (Consulting firms) should be involved in training or mentoring SME's in order to coordinate the mutual activities on SME training and development. There should be a closer level of corporation between related institutions. This is a strategy with clear objectives and covers all stages of entrepreneurial education. A center for coordination, promotion to the market, to corporate firms, and external relations should be created; this should work together with other supporting business organizations to develop and give entrepreneurs a better and more profound start. Emphasis of SME policy, measures, efforts, and sponsoring should be placed on the youngsters, especially in rural areas. References COLEMAN,S Accessto debt capital for women and minority owned small firms: Does educational attainment have an impact? Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship, 9(2): 128. CRONJE, DU TOIT, MARAISE & MOTLATLA. (Eds.) Introduction to business management. 6 th Edition. South Africa: Oxford University Press. EUROPEANCOMMISSIONSTUDIES Final report of the expert group education for entrepreneurship. Brussels, Enterprise Directorate General. [Online]. Available at: GEM Global entrepreneurship monitor. South African Report. HARRIS, A Opportunities and constraints for indigenous entrepreneurs in SME development and growth in foreign markets. SMEdevelopment and growth in foreign markets: The involvement of Indigenous Entrepreneur. Workshop 3(2); Center for Entrepreneurship Development, Windhoek. PolytechniCof Namibia. ILO Policy and program on small business development - Windhoek Ministry of Trade and Industry. MUELLER,S.L Gender gaps in potential for entrepre: ;urship across countries and cultures. Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship, 9(1):202. NEID & MoE Local entrepreneurship: The basis for sustainable development and employment creation in Namibian. Conference proceedings on Entrepreneurship Education; Windhoek. NEID Draft syllabus entrepreneurship. Junior, secondary phase. Windhoek, Ministry of Education. SMEDEVELOPMENTAND IMPACTASSESSMENT ResearchReport, Windhoek. STOKES,D. & WILSON, N Small business management and entrepreneurship. s= Edition. London: Thomson Learning. 302